8:45 Bob’s Your Uncle: This four-man group plays hard-edged pop with an emphasis on harmony vocals and strong melodies. Their latest release is titled Xplod-i-mite.

9:30 Magatha Trysty: It’s been a kick watching this indie rock quartet’s progress since I first saw them at an IPO - Chicago show a few years back. Magatha Trysty’s sound is fueled by the dynamic tandem vocals of keyboards player Catherine Louise and guitarist Chris Bevard and taps into vintage new wave on songs like “Clairvoyant” and “Art Zero.” The group’s Your Clothes Will Wear Themselves came in at number 4 on my Top Releases Of 2012 list, and they’re currently working on a follow-up that Bevard tells me will be even better.

10:15 Semi Twang:This critically-acclaimed Milwaukee band has been performing country/alternative music since 1985. Lead vocalist John Sieger is a prolific songwriter whose compositions have been covered by The BoDeans, Robbie Fulks, Dwight Yoakam and others.

11:00 The Pounders:IPO founder David Bash recommends this Detroit band to people who like “high energy pop with a dash of jangle.” Their influences includes Elvis Costello, The Who, Burt Bacharach, and Radiohead. The Pounders released the full-length CD You And What Army, featuring the singles “Please Operator” and “The Latest Fashion” in 2011.

11:45 The Romeros Charismatic lead vocalist-guitarist Mike Vanderbilt performed a solo IPO-Chicago gig a few nights back, and he returns tonight with his garage rock band The Romeros. This marks the 10th year they’ll be gracing IPO - Chicago with energetic songs like “You Got Me” and “Brand New Girl” from their two CDs. A fitting act to bring this annual festival to a rollicking finale.

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.